![]() There are truths here if one is willing to unpack them and the listener is patient enough to hear them. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” ( John 20:29). One might answer “But I have tried to believe, and I feel nothing,” or “You would have to be insane to believe such a thing.”īut when one points to this poem, the door opens. Moreover, the writer has indicated that faith is a matter of believing in what we cannot see, when one argues that such a thing using the Bible, defensiveness and attack are both common. God is at work, but we often have no idea how our suffering could be part of his bigger, greater plan. The picture is moving and enables one to pull back and see the big picture. As an answer to one of the most frequent questions, unbelievers ask, “Footprints” lacks the formality of scriptural language, making it accessible and comforting. “When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you."įrom here, potentially meaningful ideas can start to unfold. The Christian God is always there, and he can carry us through hardships of every kind. The writer’s answer paints a picture of God, which is both gentle and powerful. Maybe everyone can relate to this emotional facet of suffering and can echo the writer’s implied question: “Where are you, God”? No matter how many friends and family one has, the hardest times are also the loneliest. The isolation of grief, deep sadness, depression, despair, or anxiety is a familiar feeling. The narrator is hurt and puzzled by what feels like God’s absence: “I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.” The theme of “Footprints” is, “Where is God when I suffer?” Everyone has suffered, and those are the times when one feels most alone. ![]() Yet, the poem endures: why do Christians love “Footprints in the Sand”? Talking to Non-Believers They believe the poem is misleading about the character of suffering and of God. Meanwhile, some believers consider the poem to be only vaguely “Christian” and are concerned that it has no basis in Scripture. This popular piece of 20 th-century verse boasts a controversial background: no one knows for sure when it was written or by whom, although there are multiple contenders.
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